Cases we handle

Where money is most often lost

Each of these follows a recognisable pattern. Knowing the pattern is what makes it possible to trace the funds and build a claim that stands up.

Stock Brokers

Firms and individuals who promise returns in financial markets, then misappropriate the money placed with them.

Unregulated brokerages remain one of the most common routes for investment fraud. They present a professional trading platform, show gains that exist only on screen, and then obstruct withdrawal requests with fresh demands for fees or tax payments.

  • Tracing deposits through payment processors and correspondent banks
  • Formal complaints to the regulator in the broker's claimed jurisdiction
  • Chargeback and payment reversal claims where the timeline allows

Crypto Investments

Schemes that take custody of digital assets and profit from them while refusing to release the holder's funds.

Digital asset fraud is distinct because the transfer itself is usually irreversible. Recovery depends on following funds across the chain to the point at which they enter a regulated exchange, where identity requirements apply and legal process can be served.

  • On-chain tracing to identify destination wallets and exchange deposits
  • Preservation requests to exchanges holding the traced funds
  • Coordination with law enforcement where the sums justify it

Forex and CFD Schemes

Leveraged trading offers marketed across Europe and the CIS region by operators with no authorisation to provide them.

Contracts for difference and margined foreign exchange are tightly regulated products in the EU. Operators offering them without authorisation are in breach from the outset, which is frequently the strongest ground on which a claim can be built.

  • Establishing whether the operator held any licence to offer the product
  • Complaints to the national competent authority and to ESMA
  • Claims against payment providers that processed the transfers

Crypto Exchanges

Money sent to online exchange services to buy digital currency that is never delivered to the buyer.

These operations often run for a short period under one brand, take deposits, and close before complaints accumulate. Acting quickly matters, because the window in which funds remain traceable is narrow.

  • Immediate tracing while the transaction trail is still current
  • Identifying the operating company behind the trading name
  • Recovery action against the receiving accounts

Binary Options

Platforms structured so that a customer is unable to withdraw a balance without the operator's cooperation.

Binary options have been banned for retail customers across the EU since 2018. Any platform still offering them to consumers in the region is operating outside the law, which shapes both the complaint and the recovery route.

  • Documenting the platform's marketing and terms as offered to you
  • Regulatory complaints on the basis of the retail ban
  • Payment reversal claims against card issuers and banks

General Online Scams

Purchase, romance and payment app fraud, where you sent the money yourself rather than lost it from an investment account.

These cases differ from investment fraud in one respect that matters a great deal: you authorised the payment, which is the reason banks frequently refuse to reimburse them. That is not the end of it. Reimbursement rules for authorised push payment fraud, card chargeback rights, and action against the account that received the money can each apply. Which of them is open to you depends on how you paid, how long ago, and where the receiving bank sits.

  • Pet and puppy sales, including deposits for animals that never existed
  • Vehicle, property and other high value purchase deposits
  • Romance and longer term confidence fraud
  • Transfers sent through Zelle, Cash App, Apple Pay and Google Pay
  • Gift card and voucher payments, where how quickly you report is the single biggest factor

Before you go further

Act sooner rather than later

Payment reversal routes carry strict time limits, and transferred funds become harder to trace the longer the delay. If you think you have been defrauded, get an assessment before deciding what to do next.

Does your situation look like one of these?

Tell us what happened. We will say whether there is a realistic route to recovery, at no cost and with no obligation.

Get a consultation+31 6 1631 0397